Religion & Law

Iran - Grave concerns over welfare of Christian converts detained without charge

Posted on April 24, 2009
Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) is calling for the immediate release of two female Christian converts from Islam, who are being held without charge and who are reported to be in poor health.

Southern Baptist new baptisms slip again in 2008

Posted on April 24, 2009
AP: "Baptisms dropped just over one percent to 342,198 last year, compared with 345,941 in 2007 . . . "

Three Women Challenge Ireland?s Pro-Life Abortion Laws in European Court

Posted on April 24, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "Three anonymous women who filed a challenge in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg against the Irish government's ban on abortion, may soon have their day in court. The human rights court is reportedly poised to make a judgment on the admissibility and merits of the case ...

The Second International Symposium on Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide is a Go

Posted on April 24, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "Alex Schadenberg, Executive Director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, has announced that the Second International Symposium on Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide is a now a definite go . . . For more details and to register for the event see http://www...

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Pro-Abortion Catholic VP Biden at Georgetown Awards Ceremony: ?There is No Excuse for Violence against a Child?

Posted on April 24, 2009
LifeSiteNews: "Vice President Joe Biden, a strong abortion proponent, said that there is 'no excuse' to harm a child during an awards ceremony at the Law Center of the Jesuit-run Georgetown University yesterday, according to CNSNews.com. "

ECLJ Supports Iranian Converts Before European Court of Human Right

Posted on April 24, 2009
ACLJ: Our international affiliate, the European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ) has just filed a critical amicus brief before the European Court of Human Rights in support of two applications concerning Iranian converts to Christianity who have been denied asylum by the Turkish government.

Report Urges Changes To Protect Against Improper Searches of Muslims Returning to US

Posted on April 24, 2009
Religion Clause Blog: "Earlier this week, Muslim Advocates issued a report titled Unreasonable Intrusions: Investigating the Politics, Faith & Finances of Americans Returning Home."

Is the Texas Senate displaying bigotry toward a creationist nominated as Board of Education Chair?

Posted on April 24, 2009
Statesman.com: ?'The hornet?s nest is almost unavoidable,' McLeroy said. There are different educational philosophies at play, he said, and that is the source of the controversy, not his religious views. And the State Board has been spurred debate over those different philosophies ...

U.S. News & World Report law school rankings now online

Posted on April 24, 2009
U.S. News & World Report law school rankings are now online here. More info from Bob Morse.

Jennifer Roback Morse: The institution formerly known as marriage

Posted on April 24, 2009
"The Iowa court?s recent decision does not simply broaden marriage, it radically changes its nature. While marriage previously served public purposes of attaching mothers and fathers to their children and one another, now marriage merely serves as affirmation of adult feelings...

Kansas gov vetoes bill on late-term abortions

Posted on April 24, 2009
Associated Press: "Gov. Kathleen Sebelius vetoed a bill Thursday that would have rewritten Kansas' restrictions on late-term abortions, questioning whether it was constitutional and suggesting it would cause "intimidation" of doctors."

Iowa Senate: Opponent of same-sex ?marriage? faces ethics charge

Posted on April 24, 2009
"A former legislator has filed an ethics complaint against a northern Iowa lawmaker, claiming he violated his oath of office by urging county recorders to defy a court ruling legalizing gay marriage . . . "

?State threatens locals: Marry ?gays? ? or else?

Posted on April 24, 2009
WorldNetDaily: "Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller is warning the county recorders' offices in his state that workers must process 'marriage' licenses for same-sex duos or face possible charges in a court of law. However, a letter sent to county recorders by the Alliance Defense Fund says Miller is forgetting completely about "one of the most foundational rights and liberties we enjoy as Iowans' ...

Japan?s ?exam hell? now reaches into preschool

Posted on April 24, 2009
Christian Science Monitor: "Japan's juken, or 'exam hell,' has long evoked images of stressed kids competing for slots at top universities in an all-or-nothing exam. But this approach has increasingly moved down the ladder."

NH Senate Judiciary Committee rejects marriage redefinition bill

Posted on April 24, 2009
"The state Senate's Judiciary Committee has recommended that the Legislature reject legalizing gay marriage in New Hampshire."

?Can D.C. Clergy Stop Gay Marriage Vote??

Posted on April 24, 2009
Michelle Boorstein writes at the Washington Post: We'll know more about who is involved as this coalition builds. Right now it's being led by Bishop Harry Jackson Jr., minister of Hope Christian Church in College Park . . . In a letter sent to clergy, the coalition says, "If we fail to act now, history will ask - 'Where were the pastors?'"

Chemist Cites Advance in Stem-Cell Field

Posted on April 24, 2009
Wall Street Journal: "Scientists have reprogrammed mature skin cells into an embryonic-like state by using proteins instead of genes, a key advance aimed at overcoming safety concerns in one of the hottest areas of biological research."

Study: Dullness can kill a marriage

Posted on April 24, 2009
UPI: "A team of U.S. researchers has concluded that problems don't hurt a marriage, but dullness -- being in a rut -- does . . . The study, published in the journal Psychological Science . . ." Hat tip: Institute for Marriage and Public Policy

Coleman?s appeal lineup: 5 justices, 2 bow out

Posted on April 24, 2009
StarTribune.com: "It appears that five of the state Supreme Court's seven justices will hear Republican Norm Coleman's appeal of the trial court verdict that said Democrat Al Franken finished 312 votes ahead in the U.S. Senate race."

Minn. high court won?t hear Senate case until June

Posted on April 24, 2009
AP: "Minnesota will head into June without a second U.S. senator under the Supreme Court's schedule for hearing Republican Norm Coleman's appeal."

WVa mother charged with trying to sell infant son

Posted on April 24, 2009
AP: "A West Virginia mother was in jail Friday, accused of trying to sell her 5-month-old son for $10,000 to get money for a new apartment."

Germany limits genetic testing

Posted on April 24, 2009
AP: "The German parliament approved legislation Friday limiting the use of genetic testing in an effort to prevent the technology's abuse."

Dad?s involvement during pregnancy is key: Study

Posted on April 24, 2009
Reuters: "Fathers who are involved in their children's prenatal care are more likely to be around for the long haul, whether they marry the child's mother or not, new study findings suggest."

Austin R. Nimocks on WNTK Radio: NH bill that would have granted legal protections for sexual identity confusion fails

Posted on April 24, 2009
ADF Attorney Austin R. Nimocks appeared on WNTK radio to discuss the NH transgender bill, SB 415, which failed yesterday. The bill essentially said that sex was a state of mind not a biological fact. The mp3 runs just over three minutes. Related: Concord Monitor: Committee votes 5-0 against rights for transsexuals

?Louisiana Lawsuit Could Lead to Gay Marriage?

Posted on April 24, 2009
Lez Get Real: "Alliance Defense Fund attorney Mike Johnson, who argued for the amendment when the Supreme Court heard the case, said the new lawsuit is 'frivolous'."

A Limited Love of Liberty: A former ACLU board member says that the organization has lost its way.

Posted on April 24, 2009
At the Wall Street Journal, John Leo has this discussion of Wendy Kraminer's new book, Worst Instincts: Cowardice, Conformity, and the ACLU. Leo writes: "'The ACLU," she writes, 'began describing itself as a 'social justice organization,' and its non-partisan commitment to civil liberty shrank -- especially its commitment to free speech -- while its vision of equality expanded...

Park ban is no picnic for Fla. church, ADF sues

Posted on April 24, 2009
Alliance Defense Fund attorneys filed a lawsuit Thursday on behalf of St. Faustina Old Catholic Church against the city of Pensacola after a police officer ordered the church?s pastor to cease holding picnics at a popular historic public park downtown.

Historical American Perspectives on International Law

Posted on April 24, 2009
ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law: "The United States? relationship with international law, although oft-discussed, is poorly understood. Depictions of the relationship are often little more than caricatures. Depending on when the caricature is drawn, the United States may be a longstanding 'champion' of international law, an 'exceptionalist' defender of American values, or a hypocritical opponent of international governance...

Beyond the Holistic Constitution? Candidates for transnational constitutional status

Posted on April 24, 2009
SSRN: "This paper considers whether, why and to what extent we should conceive of transnational regulation in constitutional terms. It distinguishes between two different candidates for transnational constitutional status."

The Egalitarian First Amendment: Its History and a Critique on the Grounds of Text, Rights, Negative Liberty, and Our Republican Constitutional Structure

Posted on April 24, 2009
North Carolina Central Law Review: "This article articulates the growing tendency of constitutional theorists and U.S. Supreme Court justices to construe the First Amendment in the light of egalitarian principles and argues that to do so is inconsistent with the meaning and purpose of the First Amendment...

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